While there was no shortage of news coverage of the fiscal cliff in the last week, there was one piece of the legislation that surprised me, and it is certainly good news to our churches and our members, especially those who are older. For 2013, we have the IRA Charitable Rollover back. This means that […]

Last week Warren Buffet, the Oracle of Omaha, addressed small business owners at a seminar in downtown Cleveland. As a fund raiser, I tend to pay attention when the third richest man in the world is in my neck of the woods.  But I wasn’t interested in his money (although I would have been happy […]

David and Veronda Durden only wanted to make a gift to their church.  Now, because of a clerical error at the church, the couple is facing fines and other penalties for claiming a tax deduction they weren’t entitled to take. The Durdens gave $22,517 to their church through cash and checks.  No one disputes that […]

When Hurricane Katrina hit in September of 2005 it not only did a tremendous amount of damage to the Gulf Coast, but it also brought very real human needs to our television every night, needs that weren’t a continent away affecting people with a vastly different culture, but folks we could relate to. Before that, […]

It was a pretty serious phone call.  A minister said that he was very concerned about his church’s stewardship program and asked if we could meet for an hour in a few weeks.  I agreed and he offered to send me information about his last several years, both giving and expenses.  On a hunch, I […]

It was one of those strange news items that appeared as the final story on a lot of broadcasts a few weeks ago.  Dr. Michael Norton, a business professor at Harvard, did the research and was able to prove that money does, indeed, buy happiness.  To be honest, my first thought was that money also […]

In the name of transparency (and perhaps to goad more in donations) many churches are fond of putting financial information in the bulletin.  It usually goes something like this: Amount received last week:  $800.  Amount necessary each week:  $1,000. Some with the guts to do so will add something like, Last week’s deficit:  $200. And […]

I am a self-proclaimed Methodist Geek and I’m about to determine if you are one as well.  If the phrase “16 Drivers” brings about thoughts of high school sophomores behind the wheel of a car, congratulations.  You’re not one of us.  But if you immediately went to the Call to Action, welcome to the dark […]

On Friday I had a rare opportunity.  I spent the day with Rev. Clif Christopher, author of Not Your Parents Offering Plate, as he consulted with a half dozen local churches. He looked at a bunch of things, like average giving levels and how they compare with the national average.  He spent a lot of […]

I am so grateful for the many, many reactions I received to last week’s post about my Katrina experiences.  And I watched with some degree of relief to see that New Orleans area fared much better this time around than they did seven years ago. But two realities remain: After 7 years, there is still […]